The Flash – The Darkness and the Light Review

After last week’s “The Fury of Firestorm,” I was genuinely excited to see what was coming next for The Flash. The Harrison Wells of Earth-2 finally made his existence known to Barry Allen, and I had a lot of lingering questions about his motivations given the time he’d spent creeping about S.T.A.R. Labs. Needless to say, Tom Cavanagh’s appearance as the Harrison Wells of Earth-2 helped keep the show’s momentum going in an episode that also featured romance, comedy, and surprisingly loose definitions of murder.

As mentioned before, Tom Cavanagh was a welcome re-addition to the show, instantly differentiating himself from the Wells we knew and playing off every member of Team Flash in a fun and antagonistic way. I particularly liked him calling Jay Garrick out for not stopping Zoom, as there seemed to a more personal reason for him doing this in the present when compared to the past (which we later learn is because his daughter was taken by the speed fiend). Who can say how the season will end, but I hope Wells doesn’t go so far as to screw Barry over to try to get his daughter back, as I want him to be a permanent member of Team Flash going forward. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed Tom Cavanagh until he made a more substantial appearance on the show, and I don’t want to go back.

However, there were some slip ups as the episode attempted to give everyone a different reaction to the new Wells (aka Harry). Upon seeing Harry in S.T.A.R. Labs, the first thing Joe does is take out his gun and fire, a somewhat valid reaction based on his experience with Wells and the havoc that he wrought. But Joe was already exposed to doppelgangers earlier in the season, and I find it hard to believe he wasn’t able to put two and two together (even if the show tried very hard to portray him this way in “The Flash of Two Worlds“). Furthering the comparison, Cisco had almost the exact same trust issues with Harry as Barry had with Jay Garrick when he was first introduced. It was annoying to see the show rely on this again, but my misgivings were mostly countered by Barry asking Joe if he thinks it’s “easy for [him].” Barry’s dialogue was a nice way of saying that he won’t go down the road of mistrust and melodrama again, and if the showrunners insisted that had to happen at some point, I’m glad it happened with Jay instead of Harry. Maybe everyone should just take a page from the “didn’t have the emotional reaction you thought I was going to have” king, Iris West, as even though I’m starting to wonder why they even bother with scenes of asking how she feels (about her mother; about Harry), it’s nice to know that she’s a no-drama zone.

Speaking of no-drama, though, the episode did a wonderful job of navigating away from territory that would lead to unnecessary tension and plodding storylines. When Joe gave Iris the gun, I worried it would result in her making a mistake and shooting the wrong person. The Flash has really done right by Iris this season, and each episode simply offers the writers another chance to mess up the good thing they’ve got going. So good job, Iris. It would’ve been a headshot if not for Doctor Light’s pesky helmet. Another character who benefitted from the series not indulging in melodrama was Patty Spivot. I loved the fact that the series didn’t throw unnecessary obstacles in the way of her and Barry’s relationship and had the recently blinded Barry still go on a date with her. Not only that, but him wearing sunglasses wasn’t a problem because she figured out that he couldn’t see her. With the line, “Come on, I would not be a good detective if I couldn’t have figured this one out,” I realize I want Patty brought onto Team Flash as soon as possible. That way, the series won’t have a chance to leave her hurt by the fact that this secret was kept from her, and she’ll be able to play a more central role in the conflict of the season.

The romantic storylines in the episode were pretty solid, for the most part. As I still don’t care for Jay and Caitlin’s interest in each other, I was happy that Doctor Light’s attack prevented them from kissing. And though the episode kind of threw in Kendra Saunders to set up Legends of Tomorrow and provide a romantic interest for Cisco, Barry and Patty’s relationship was pretty cute, especially the line “I don’t want to wait anymore.”

To pair with the romance, there was also a great deal of comedy in the episode, although sometimes this was unintentional and forced. For instance, Joe West had probably the funniest expression on his face after he tried to shoot Wells, and Iris looked like she hadn’t thought things through when she went up to Wells like she was about to make a big statement, said, “Wells, thank you for helping Barry put away Doctor Light,” and then just walked away. However, it was Barry that stole the show. The episode occasionally played his incompetence up too much, but I thought it was great when he walked into a glass screen and looked like he’d stepped into freezing cold water.

I was almost not going to mention the Flash’s final confrontation with Doctor Light. The show consistently overlooks the fact that Barry’s powers invalidate almost every encounter he has, and I’ve previously said that enjoyment of the series doesn’t hinge on the fight scenes being anything more than decent. However, this week’s episode offered a potential reason for why Barry often goes to such ridiculous measures. When he confronts Doctor Light at the train station, he asks Team Flash “How do I stop her?” Perhaps if he listened to his gut, and not everyone’s wacky ideas, he would avoid having to run so fast he caused a speed mirage, only to hit Doctor Light like he should’ve done from the beginning. The show was past due for another speed ability (the lightning throw was three episodes ago now), but the measures taken to defeat an enemy seem to be getting more and more ridiculous. There’s also the fact that Barry falls for the light-powered ground pound twice, and Doctor Light doesn’t use the ground pound a second time even though she knows this is the most effective way of countering the Flash’s speed mirage.

Despite failing to craft a tight fight scene between Barry Allen and Doctor Light, “The Darkness and the Light” was easily one of the most enjoyable episodes of the season so far. It avoided tired storylines, brought back Tom Cavanagh, and made me laugh with the most surprising moments. I still don’t really care about Zoom, but I am excited to see what the show can do when they actually focus on the character. If the name of next week’s episode, “Enter Zoom,” is any indication, I won’t have to wait very long.

Joe’s “You can’t murder somebody who everyone thinks is dead, right?” and Doctor Light’s “It’s not murder if it’s your double” sent some weird messages about the perception of people from other worlds. Plus, Joe is a cop.

The scene of Barry catching the bullets shot at Wells was over the top even for The Flash.

The show has been using Iris to get Barry out of whatever rut he’s in so often that they haven’t really had a chance to just talk. The episode gave a brief glimpse of that when Barry says she can tell him how she’s feeling, which made me realize how awesome their chemistry is together.

With her most recent love interest leaving (voluntarily this time), Caitlin really can’t catch a break.

The showrunners need to realize that Cisco’s self-doubt and one-dimensional fear that he’s going to become like Wells aren’t interesting. With Cisco finally getting the name “Vibe,” perhaps they’ve already done so.

I wonder if Caitlin saying “I don’t think any of us would become evil if we all of a sudden got powers” will be ironic later down the line. The series has played around with doubles enough that the Earth-2 Caitlin being Killer Frost would kind of be a cop-out, but if they did go down this path, they might use her to show how one difference can change everything. Perhaps Caitlin’s muted reaction to Ronnie’s death in this universe will be contrasted with Caitlin-2’s turn to the dark side when faced with similar circumstances.

Even with her double being Doctor Light, Linda Park was way cooler in Season 1.

The show seems to be doing great things for all of its main female characters except for Caitlin. Jay might have more of the “run toward danger” instinct than Caitlin, but without his powers, they’re on an equal playing field. However, when they come to after Doctor Light’s attack, she says, “Oh no, go” and doesn’t even try to follow Jay out of the car. #CaitlinCanGoToo

One of the big reveals of the episode is the existence of Atlantis on Earth-2. As Aquaman is going to be making his big screen debut next year, they probably won’t want to show any aspects of his world, but perhaps Earth-2 holds other secrets that will be revealed later in the season.

Rating

7.5

Pros

Despite being sometimes unintentional, the episode's humor was great

Avoided melodrama territory to move onto things we want to see

Tom Cavanagh's return

As Zoom is right around the corner, the series might just be done with its awkward set up phase

Cons

Cisco's overly familiar trust issues

The quality of both Caitlin and Joe's storylines and moments continue to vacillate

Comments

Irish Jim

I don’t like a lot of what the show is doing. My perception of Jay Garrick from my 1960’s and 1970’s comic books is that he is a great guy, slower and older than Barry, but with a good perspective which is helpful to Barry. This Jay Garrick is whiney, lacking in confidence and making enough bad choices to be on Arrow. Their characterization of Jay has been a huge disappointment.

Caitlin has been a really bad character this season. She was terrific last season. Now she spends her time mooning over Jay, who isn’t all that likable. If she keeps this up turning her into Killer Frost won’t be so terrible.
I agree that they haven’t used Barry’s powers well at all. Dr. Light is shooting at him and he doesn’t think to just run around and hit her from behind?

The characterization of Earth 2 Wells is surprising as the Earth 1 Wells before Thorne took him over was supposed to be a great guy. Even afterwards he was usually a good guy. Earth 2 Wels is a jerk. Is he that way because he needs Barry to rescue his Daughter from Zoom and the pressure is getting to him or is he just a jerk?

Iris is significantly less annoying this season. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to Barry’s relationship with Patty. She didn’t handle Barry and Linda dating well.
I like Barry with Patty, but she needs to know he is the Flash. He is going to have to save her some time. I liked Barry with Linda too. I guess I like him with everyone but Iris.